


Hard Decision

by Quiet_Shadow



Series: To Unite the Schools [1]
Category: Ranma 1/2
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, Locked Curse, Ranma-chan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-12
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-25 03:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2606786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiet_Shadow/pseuds/Quiet_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. When Ranma arrives already 'locked' in his/her cursed form at the Dojo Tendo, it sets in motion a big change of plan for both families. Although a girl Ranma can't marry one of the Tendo sister, there's still one more member of the household who is elligible to get married... or rather, remarried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard Decision

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are. My very first Ranma 1/2 fic, and with a very unusual pairing at that -- well, my second one; I did wrote a ficlet with a rare pairing a few years back.
> 
> I probably have no excuse for that story - and the handful of related fics I wrote. The idea just grabbed me while I was rereading my mangas and wouldn't let me go before I wrote it down. It didn't help that I later found one hentai picture and one hentai doujinshi with that very pairing that just helped fuel my growing obsession with the pairing I'm about to unveil.
> 
> I hope you guys will not think me crazy or hate me for this. That said, Bonne Lecture Messieurs-Dames!

“This is such a mess, Aoi.”

Kneeling before the family shrine, eyes looking sadly at a picture of his late wife, Soun Tendô tried not to weep. So many things were going wrong… It wasn’t supposed to happen like that at all! Tears silently run down his cheeks as he spoke. Now, Soun knew that he had a reputation of being highly emotional and prompt to crying fits -- something Nabiki had never missed an occasion to point out -- but at this very moment? He would have dared any man to not cry his heart out.

Speaking to his beloved Aoi in the secret of the night, when he couldn’t sleep and hard thoughts rested on his mind, had always helped. Tonight, he needed to speak with her. To explain to her the choices that were let out to him, and why he was forced to make them, while hoping desperately that her spirit would hear him and understand his acts.

“When you insisted we wrote that contract,” he said softly, “it seemed like a good idea. You had never met Genma before, and although you didn’t mind our project of marrying our heirs so they could one day inherit the dojo together, you wanted guarantees and a formal agreement, not just a verbal one. I understand that, and I respect the choice you did. I wouldn’t have wanted my sweet daughters to be stood up, and our family honor to be affected in any way. You were also right; there was no guarantee we wouldn’t have a son of our own, or Genma a daughter of his own. Leaving the wording open as to simply imply that a member of the Saotome clan would marry a member of the Tendo clan of the opposite sex really left our children’s options open. That way, we were sure honor would be uplead without pressuring our heirs too much.”

He paused, bowing his head.

“We couldn’t have foreseen… Oh, Aoi,” he weeped. “It was going to be so perfect! Genma had a son, like we had planned, and our lovely daughters were blossoming into such fine young ladies! We were hoping so much -- I was hoping so much one of them would indeed marry my old friend’s son and inherit the dojo! But then, tragedy struck,” he keened.

“Genma’s son, Ranma… isn’t a son any longer,” he said with regret, in a low voice. “You see, it started during their training journey in China. Genma took them to this exceptional training ground he found in a book. The springs of Jusenkyo.” Was it him, or had there been thunder rolling in the background? … Naw. Must have been a bi-product of his depression and of the grave news he was about to share with his late wife. “That place… those springs… They’re cursed, Aoi,” he whispered. “To fall into one curses whoever was dipped in those waters to take the form of the one being who first drowned in the spring when sprayed with cold water. My friend Genma… fell into the Spring of the Drowned Panda. Yes, it is funny, in a way, isn’t it?” he said lips curling slightly as he imagined what Aoi would have said. He could hear her giggle even now. He sobered up very quickly, though. “His son… fell into another spring altogether. He fell in the Spring of the Drowned Girl.”

Kami, how hard it was to say it.

“Normally, the curses are only temporary, or at least that’s what Genma explained to me -- with a demonstration on his person. If cold water change someone in his cursed form, hot water allow him to regain his proper shape and body. Genma keep shifting between panda and human. His son Ranma, however…” He straightened and looked at Aoi’s picture with distress.

“He’s stuck, Aoi. Locked into a female body. Ranma fell into the Spring of the Drowned Girl, and through an incident he refuses to speak of, was hit by heated water of the same Spring. That means that… that he can’t shift anymore. For any intent and purpose, he’s cursed, shifting from one female body to the other. And there’s nothing that could help -- at least, according to an ‘old mummy’ Genma spoke with. I didn’t exactly understood that part, to be honest,” he scratched the back of his head in a mean of excuse. “I gathered that apparently, there were some ways to get locked and unlocked into a cursed form, and that a local Chinese tribe used them. Only, they are only intended to lock someone in cursed form with cold water, or unlock it with special hot water. That… wouldn’t work on Ranma, because even if they used that heated water, then he would still have a woman appearance,” he explained carefully, brain scrambling to remind him the details of the conversation he had with Genma over a shôgi board.

“Genma told me there existed a Spring of the Drowned Man. You can think how happy I was to hear that; if such a Spring existed, then they could just have submerged themselves with that water and become men again! I didn’t understand why they didn’t do it right away, I must confess; if they had, the tragedy befalling them would have ended right away. But apparently, between their bad understanding of Chinese, their shock and their need to get supplies, they didn’t think about it. That, and apparently, their Guide to the area said something about Jusenkyo curses acting strangely if one tried to change his own curse too soon. I didn’t understand that part either, I admit.

“Anyway, by the time they thought about that Spring of the Drowned Man, Ranma had already been doubly cursed, and whoever that ‘old mummy’ Genma spoke of is, she vetoed Ranma trying to use that Spring. She said that the results would be…” He swallowed. “She said the results would be a mixed curse, at the very least. The elders of the tribe apparently have records of that type of thing happening to hapless people. There is apparently only so much cursed water a body can take without risking secondary effects. If Ranma had simply had a single curse, then the ‘old mummy’ seems relatively certain he could have changed back to a man. He wouldn’t have been exactly cured, per say. In truth, he would have been doubly cursed -- as it is the case with any who try to regain their former self by bathing in the cursed Spring.

“However, since the new ‘curse’ would have ‘erased’ the previous one, then one could have considered him ‘cured’, and that all that mattered. The problem is… Ranma is already doubly cursed. Trying to use the water of the Spring of the Drowned Man on himself would be like cursing himself a third time, and from there, things become… impossible to deal with. Should Ranma try to bath in the Spring of Drowned Man… there’s a good possibility, and even a certainty he’d end up as some kind of creature not fully male and not fully female.

“Oh the horror, Aoi!” he wept. “Trust me, we all agreed that being fully a woman was better than being neither male or female! As hard as it is to swallow for Ranma, at least currently his body is ‘normal’. But as it is, the most likely way to get himself cured has slipped between his fingers.

“There may exists other ways, and I know Ranma is clinging to them madly, repeating to whoever hear him he must continue his journey in search of a cure. But Genma…” he paused, struggling with the words. “Genma doesn’t seem to think there is one, not for Ranma. For himself, perhaps, but not for his son. He was crying, Aoi. Literally crying -- and he doesn’t do so over anything, trust me. Not after those years with Happosai, where he probably changed worse than me. But then again, he confessed to me he hadn’t spoken to his wife of Ranma’s condition yet, and that he apparently promised something that can’t be fulfilled anymore.”

He sighed. “He won’t tell me what exactly, but he’s considering going to see her in secret, and from what I gathered, it can’t be good. But he needs to speak with her about… about an arrangement that could work out to satisfy our families’ respective honor,” he hesitated.

He looked at Aoi’s lovely face once more. Her daughters resembled her a lot -- Kasumi and Akane the most. He shifted uneasily, fists tightening in his laps. What he now had to share with Aoi wasn’t easy to say the least.

“You see, Aoi… it’s still my, our dream to Genma and I to bring the school together through marriage. It’s not just about ideology, as I told you once -- there’s a lot of practical thinking behind that decision. Anything Goes Martial Arts hasn’t that many practitioners to begin with. Genma and I were, as far as I know, our Sensei’s sole students, and we both developed personal styles that might become complementary and could beneficiate greatly from one another in order to perfect our skills. But there’s more than that, as you know. Aside of promoting and advancing our schools’ legacy by making sure to produce heirs that’d be able to merge both styles into one united school, there’s the problem of… of getting students,” he sighed. “I know I have been remiss in my duties as a teacher since your death, but once you weren’t there… I just didn’t have the heart in me to continue anymore. Sadly, it means I have lost a lot of students over time. I know Akane intends to succeed me if she can, but our little girl is still ignorant of how… traditional some of our neighbors and former students are or were. A female Sensei would never gather the same notoriety a male one would, as sad as it is. Truly, if she had been a boy -- or if she had had a brother, things would have been different. But a boy needs to success me, in order for the traditionalists to be fully satisfied. Akane could still teach, of course, but she’d need a strong husband for male students to look up to,” he explained.

“That why I was putting so much hope on Genma’s son, Aoi. With him as a teacher, married to one of our daughters regardless of which one, then I wouldn’t have had to worry about the succession. As for Genma… Well, given how hard it is to actually create a Dojo, especially here in Tokyo, you must understand how such an arrangement would benefit the Saotome. If… if Ranma had even be only half-cursed, changing between man and woman when he was in contact with water, then we could have make it work no matter what. But now… now, I’m afraid that solution is out, and that none of our daughters will ever marry the fiancé we had chosen for them. With only daughters on either side -- since Ranma is now Genma’s daughter, regardless of which gender he was born with, then the contract can’t be honored, and our family will lose face and honor.”

He lowered his head, eyes closed, sighing deeply and trying to steel himself. What he now had to say was the hardest part.

“I wish I didn’t have to say that, Aoi, my Beloved. You know I have always stayed faithful to you, and that I still love you dearly. However… for the sake of honor…” He swallowed. “That contract you made us redact, with it’s open wording… It made Genma think. And as much as I want to disagree with his idea, I can’t find it in myself to contradict him. You see… the contract would let a male Tendô wed a female Saotome. We have only daughters, true, but… as a widower, I’m perfectly entitled to remarry and try to produce more heirs.”

He closed his eyes again briefly and his shoulders sagged under the weight of the admission. The picture of his beloved Aoi was still radiantly smiling down at him. In a way, he would have prefered if she had been glaring at him, because what he and Genma had been discussing and were thinking about doing… That was just…

“This is so messed up, Aoi!” he finally wailed. “Saotome’s son was supposed to be a manly boy, and some of that manliness still shines through him, in his way of moving and speaking! But at the same time, he as a girl’s body, and…” he blushed. “A very damn fine one, I’m not blind. Oh Kami, Aoi, I saw him topless after he got thrown into the pond and removed his shirt to wring it. And, to my deepest shame, I almost had a… a very normal man reaction to seeing an attractive woman in an undressed state. But it’s so wrong. She -- he’s our daughters’ age!” he wailed again. Yes, Ranma was Akane’s age, just sixteen -- but that didn’t stop him from having a pair of breasts that was just… incredible.

“Kami-sama, I feel like an old pervert, lusting after such a young lady. And the worse, Aoi?” he added, looking desperately at his wife’s picture. “He didn’t even notice my reaction! That boy seems to know next to nothing about women and men and… God, I don’t think he even knows how… ‘vulnerable’ he could be, alone on his own,” he grimaced. “He’s so cocky, he doesn’t seem to realize what could happen to a pretty young woman out there. I never fully let our daughters know, but they have at least an inkling. Saotome’s boy? He doesn’t even have that.”

He bowed his head. “Part of me hopes it is for the sake of decency and because he thought I could protect Ranma that Genma proposed such a solution to honor the contract. And that part of me keeps telling me: ‘do it; remarry and takes your best friend’s child as your new wife’. But it feels so… wrong on several levels!”

“Now, I know you might think: why not wait for the next generation to try and fulfill that engagement contract? I have thought about it, but… let to their own devices, I’m not sure any of our children would marry or have children of their own, let alone teach them the Arts,” he confided. “I won’t speak for Saotome’s son. However, I know our daughters better than they think they know themselves. Kasumi would make a great wife -- but nobody asked for her hand yet, and she thinks too much about taking care of us for leaving and try to make her life with someone. Perhaps, in the coming years, I should arrange an Omiai for her… unless Doctor Tofu finally decides to act on his feelings,” he sighed. “Nabiki? She’s not the motherly type, and she never will be. Our middle daughter is a born businesswoman who will put career and money before family life. I don’t think she’ll ever marry, or let alone have children or. Then we have Akane.” He sighed. “I don’t think she realized that yet, and if she ever will, but her dislike of boys run deeper than she thinks. I… won’t say our daughter likes other girls yet,” he said apologetic, “but unless a marriage is arranged for her, she’ll probably not marry either. That why I had truly hoped Genma’s son would marry either her or Nabiki,” he sighed.

“No. Unless we do it this generation, then I fear that the chance of uniting our school will be forever lost. That’s why… That’s why I’m seriously considering Genma’s proposition,” he confessed with shame.

“I wouldn’t marry Ranma right way, of course,” he hastily added, raising his hands in defense. “He… she’s sixteen! She’s still going to school! And…” he swallowed. “A part of me want to encourage that boy to seek a cure. It’d be so much easier for everyone if he could find one and instead marry one of our daughters. That’s why… that’s why I intend to sit that child down and have a talk with him. I won’t stop him from searching a cure -- in fact, I’ll even encourage him. In the meanwhile, though, I’ll expect of him to learn some… feminine… tasks, as well as to get to know our daughters, for they could become his fiancées… or his step-daughters.”

Dear Lord, he could only wonder how they were going to react to the very idea. Genma and him hadn’t said anything yet to the girls, nor to Ranma. They were going to in the morning… and he was expecting a lot of screams.

He looked again at Aoi’s picture. “Convincing that boy… girl… isn’t going to be easy. I know it. Genma knows it. It’s sad, but it’s normal. He is or rather, was a boy. He hasn’t been raised in the optic of becoming a housewife or… or to carry a child,” he added, blushing. “I can only hope he’ll come to accept the idea in time, which is why I don’t want to rush things. We need an engagement period, if only for appearances’ sake. He’s probably going to hate me, and hate his father. However, Saotome said he has raised the child with a strong set of values, especially about honor. If anything, he’s certain Ranma will not destroy an honor pledge between our two families. I can only pray he’s right. But even so, I don’t want to back him up in a corner without a possible escape way.”

“That’s why I’ll give him two years, until he graduates from high school, to find a cure. If by then he isn’t… cured… then we will celebrate our wedding,” he said, lowering his head. “If it was only for me, I’d give him more, trust me, but the sad truth is that time is running out for me. I’m already forty-one, Aoi,” he said, grimacing. “If I want a chance to… to have more children and, more than that, a chance at teaching them the Arts myself and the Tendô style in particular, then I can’t allow myself to wait too long. Two years will be enough, I hope, to get me back in shape,” he tried to joke, but it felt flat to his ears.

“It feels like I’m betraying you, Aoi, with the mere idea of considering remarriage. Had circumstances been any different, then I would never have thought about it for a second,” he swore desperately, silently begging his wife’s picture for understanding. The serene smile, so similar to Kasumi’s own, didn’t bulge.

“No. If that curse hadn’t gotten in the way, then I would have happily wed one of our daughters and that would be the end of the matter. But now, the future of the Tendô’s Anything Goes School is at stake and you know me, Aoi. I worked too hard, hoped too much for our Dojo to let it all go to waste.”

He bowed once more to the picture.

“Please, forgive me for the decision I’m going to take, Aoi.”

Of course, no answer was forthcoming. But the loud thunder he had heard earlier in the night seemed to decrease, until it was only a whisper on the wings of the wind…

**Author's Note:**

> Just so you know, I have no intention to turn this series of one shots into a dark fic. I'm more partial to a mix of comedy and angst as characters face things in a different way than in canon and, in turn, get struck by a different craziness than the one they usually faced.  
> Let's just say that, if I manage to write what I have in mind, it's not Ranma who will have to deal with Kuno's challenges, and someone else might end up with a slight fiancé problem instead. Not to mention, a couple of conventional or potentially rare/cracky pairings.  
> See you around for more. <3


End file.
